Swans 2 Hanworth Villa 1

Swans go into Monday’s draw for the 3rd Round after coming through a tough encounter with a good Hanworth Villa side. A fine, competitive match that could have gone either way was finally decided by Malachi Thomas’s goal twelve minutes from time. After a pretty even first-half the visitors had a good opening quarter of an hour of the second, but Swans had the better chances from then on and just about edged it on the night.

With both Jake Newton, on international duty, and Billy Jeffreys, cup-tied, unavailable, Lea Van Sullivan was recalled into central defence. Two members of the club’s U-18 side, Dennis Gorman and George Maxwell were named as substitutes.

Swans started well, attacking from the off, and they almost capitalised on a poor back header from the Villain’s Steve Loveridge that put TJ Nkoma into the left of the box, but his lob took a deflection to loop over.

But it was the visitors who took the lead after just five minutes following their first attack. A through ball put Tom Neale clear to just outside the edge of the box on the right, where he went down under the challenge of Swans’ goalkeeper Brendan Norris, who had rushed out to clear. Norris was booked, and was then left helpless as Jack Mills struck the resultant free-kick just inside his left-post.

Neither side then created much in the way of openings until Swans had a good spell as the half entered the final twenty minutes. Some fine play by Athan Smith-Joseph on the left gave Elliott Simpson a chance in the left of the box, but his low shot was pushed wide of his far-post by Villain’s keeper Triston Thomas. Former Hanworth Villa player Smith-Joseph was then fouled just outside the box to win Swans a free-kick in a good position. Jim Fenlon’s kick was blocked, as was a follow-up, and Smith-Joseph finally sent the ball dipping over from the edge of the box.

Just before the half hour Julian Hornby’s fine cross from the right forced the visitors to head the ball behind for a corner, and the equaliser came soon after. Nkoma’s run on the right was ended by a crude challenge, and from Simpson’s free-kick Jamie Thoroughgood powered a header into the top of the net.

The Swans’ skipper then glanced another header wide when Simpson took another free-kick, this time from the left. With two minutes of normal-time left of the half Norris’s excellent throw out sent Nkoma away down the left, and Thomas just failed to turn in his low cross at the near-post.

Two minutes after the resumption Smith-Joseph cut in from the right to put a shot just wide of the far-post.

The visitors responded with a shot from the edge of the box that took a deflection to go wide.

Swans again went close when Flo Bojaj laid the ball in from the left to Thomas on the edge of the box, and he took aim before driving in a shot that his namesake in the visitors’ goal did well to push round his left-post. Bojaj then got the ball Nkoma on the right, but he shot wide of the near-post.

The visitors continued to look dangerous however, and another shot from the edge of the box went wide as the ball took a slight deflection.

The ball had to be headed behind for a corner as Smith-Joseph was put down the right to get in a cross for Swans, but Hanworth Villa had another opening on the edge of the box, this time Norris getting well behind a low shot.

Twenty minutes into the half Simpson played a fine ball to get Thomas down the right for Swans, and his low cross found Bojaj in the box to set up a chance, but he couldn’t bring the ball under control.

Swans now looked the more likely to settle the tie, and Smith-Joseph just failed to get on the end of Thomas’s low cross into the six-yard box from the right. Bojaj then put Nkoma down the left, and a defender just cleared the ball at the far-post to deny Thomas as the cross came in.

Smith-Joseph got Thomas to the goal-line on the right, but his low cross was cleared away, before Swans took the lead after 78 minutes. An excellent cross from the left by Bojaj picked out Thomas by the penalty-spot, and he took a touch to control the ball before driving it past the keeper.

The Villains tried to respond with a good move around the edge of the box, but when the ball was laid off to the right it was driven over.

Swans had a chance to settle it in the last five minutes of normal-time when Bojaj and Simpson combined well on the right for Chris Onoufriou to get the ball across, but Thomas headed just wide.

The visitors had five minutes of stoppage-time to try to send the tie into an extra thirty minutes, but they failed to seriously threaten the home goal, and it is Swans who will go into the draw for the next round.